Nine players remained at the start of the final day in event No. 6. The $1,500 limit hold'em had a first-place prize of $280,715 and a coveted gold bracelet on the line. These nine emerged from a field of 910 players that pumped the prize pool to $1.2 million. Here is how things looked when they took their seats:
Seat No. 1: Michael Banks - $134,000
Seat No. 2: Varouzhan Gumroyan - $148,000
Seat No. e: James Gorham - $632,000
Seat No. 4: Gary Styczynski - $817,000
Seat No. 5: Hansu Chu - $389,000
Seat No. 6: Pete O'Donnell - $55,000
Seat No. 7: Soheil Shamseddin - $298,000
Seat No. 8: Dariush Imani - $109,000
Seat No. 9: James Holland - $163,000
Two players fell during the first hour of action and the first of these was Dariush Imani, who was eliminated in ninth place ($16,148). Imani held pocket tens, but they were no match for the pocket aces of his opponent. Pete O'Donnell sang his swan song next with pocket sixes a few hands later. He was called down by Varouzhan Gumroyan, who held pocket tens. O'Donnell was sent to the rail eighth place ($22,359) when a 10 hit on the flop.
Gary Styczynski drew his first blood of the day when he eliminated Michael Banks in seventh place ($30,433). Banks held A
Q
, which dominated the K
Q
of Stycznski. The flop came A
Q
J
. No help was delivered on the turn (2
), but the 10
on the river gave Styczynski the straight.
James Holland was close to all in on a flop of Q
9
7
and Gumroyan made the call. Another queen hit on the turn and Gorham pushed all in for what he had left. He then turned over pocket kings. A strong hand indeed, but not strong enough to beat the A
Q
that Gumroyan turned over. The river changed nothing and Holland was eliminated in sixth place ($40,991). Styczynski then made his presence felt at the table by eliminating James Gorman (5th - $53,412) and Sheil Shamseddin (4th - $75,771) in succession.
With action down to three-handed, Hansu Chu moved all in with A
3
against Gumroyan. Chu was in dire straits when Gumroyan turned over A
10
. The board was dealt Q
10
7
8
2
and Chu was eliminated in third place ($114,278). Action was now heads up and here is how the chip stacks looked at this crossroad:
Gary Styczynski: $1,375,000
Varouzhan Gumroyan: $1,325,000
Styczynski jumped out to the early lead, and at one point he had infused his stack with $2.1 million in chips. Gumroyan was not about to go quietly into the night and fought back to even. Each heads-up match has a tuning point, at which the balance of the match hangs on the outcome of one hand. Such a hand took place with a board of A
K
J
Q
7
sitting on the felt. Things got interesting on the river. Gumroyan fired out $120,000 and Styczynski popped it up to $240,000. Gumroyan made it $360,000 to go and Styczynski four-bet things up to $480,000. Gumroyan made the call and flipped over 10
2
. Styczynski turned over Q
8
and took down the pot with the nut flush.
The final hand came down a few minute later when Gumroyan moved all in with a flop of 10
9
5
sitting on the board. Styczynski called and flipped over J
8
. Gumroyan turned over A
4
and the turn and river cards were dealt Q
J
. Styczynski won the gold bracelet in the $1,500 limit hold'em event and took home the first-place prize of $280,715. Gumroyan took home $177,627 in prize money for his second-place finish.